John Gray: Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern

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While many Americans view the September 11th terrorist attack as the act of an anachronistic and dangerous sect, one that champions medieval and outmoded ideals, John Gray here argues that in fact the ideology of Al Qaeda is both Western and modern, a by-product of globalization’s transnational capital flows and open borders. Indeed, according to Gray, Al Qaeda’s utopian zeal to remake the world in its own image descends from the same Enlightenment creed that informed both the disastrous Soviet experiment and the new neoliberal dream of a global free market.

In this 'excellent short introduction to modern thought' (The Guardian), first published in 2003, Gray warns that the United States, once a champion of revolutionary economic and social change, must now understand its new foes. He also confronts some of the faults he perceives in Western ideology: the faith that global development will eradicate war and hunger, trust in technology to address the coming catastrophe of population explosion, and the belief that democracy is an infallible institution that can serve as political panacea for all.

John Gray: Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern

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Author	Gray, John
Full Title	Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern
Binding	Softcover
Publisher	The New Press (2005)
Pages	145
ISBN	9781565849877
Language	English
Short Description	While many Americans view the September 11th terrorist attack as the act of an anachronistic and dangerous sect, one that champions medieval and outmoded ideals, John Gray here argues that in fact the ideology of Al Qaeda is both Western and modern, a by-product of globalization’s transnational capital flows and open borders. Indeed, according to Gray, Al Qaeda’s utopian zeal to remake the world in its own image descends from the same Enlightenment creed that informed both the disastrous Soviet experiment and the new neoliberal dream of a global free market. In this 'excellent short introduction to modern thought' (The Guardian), first published in 2003, Gray warns that the United States, once a champion of revolutionary economic and social change, must now understand its new foes. He also confronts some of the faults he perceives in Western ideology: the faith that global development will eradicate war and hunger, trust in technology to address the coming catastrophe of population explosion, and the belief that democracy is an infallible institution that can serve as political panacea for all.
Praise	'One of the West’s most thoughtful political philosophers . . . [his] insight will be of immense value in our struggle against the new terrorism of the twenty-first century.'—Philip Chase Bobbitt, author of The Shield of Achilles
About the Author	John Gray is Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and the author of many books on political theory, including False Dawn and Two Faces of Liberalism. He lives in Bath, England.